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UMass School of Marine Sciences > Coastal Systems Science

Aquatic Ecology in the Coastal Zone

Human society reaps large economic and recreational benefits from the land/sea margin which often result in adverse environmental impact. Understanding and remediating these impacts must begin with the realization that coastal marine ecosystems in effect extend well inland, encompassing their watersheds and estuaries. Freshwater inputs not only affect salinity distributions and circulation patterns but are also sources of nutrients and contaminants. The land/sea boundary is the home of unique ecosystems (e.g., marshes, shallow embayments, shelf environments) which are critical for the lifecycles of many economically and recreationally important finfish and shellfish species. However, the complex ecology and multiple interconnections of these systems are far from being sufficiently well understood to predict the outcome of present and future human impacts.

The student pursuing this area of emphasis is expected to develop a fundamental understanding of aquatic ecology in the coastal zone and its dependence on physical, chemical, and geological processes and phenomena. This area often requires synthesis of diverse, spatially distributed data and students are encouraged to be competent in using Geographic Information Systems. Student should also become familiar with the scientific issues that influence coastal resource management and policy.